Draft:COLA Animation

COLA Animation is a Portuguese animation film production cooperative, producing short films, music videos, advertising, and multimedia projects. The cooperative is best known for producing Ice Merchants (2022), directed by João Gonzalez, which became the first Portuguese short film to be nominated for an Academy Award. The film premiered at the Cannes Critics’ Week, where it won the Leitz Cine Discovery Prize, and went on to receive more than 150 awards worldwide, including an Annie Award for Best Short Subject.

COLA Animation is a Portuguese animation production cooperative founded in 2015 as an informal collective of artists working under the name Col.A – Colectivo de Animação, with the initial aim of promoting animation in Portugal through training projects and workshops. The group soon expanded into content production, beginning with stop-motion music videos for Portuguese bands, its debut project being Cinegirasol (2015) for Os Azeitonas.^[1]

Initially composed of animators, illustrators, designers, and technicians, the collective evolved into a formal cooperative structure. In 2018, with the production of The Peculiar Crime of Oddball Mister Jay, COLA Animation was formally registered as COLA – Cooperativa Audiovisual. This restructuring enabled the cooperative to participate in a broader range of activities, covering short film production, advertising and institutional projects, audiovisual and multimedia works, as well as enabling broader access to public funding and fostering a horizontal decision-making model where members rotate roles depending on each project.^[2][3][4]

From 2018 onwards, cinema became a central focus of the cooperative, particularly in the field of short animated films. Works produced by COLA Animation have been selected for international festivals including Cannes, Annecy, and Toronto, and have received awards at Curtas Vila do Conde, Guadalajara, Chicago, and others.^[5][6]

In 2023, COLA Animation became the first Portuguese production company to achieve an Academy Award nomination, with Ice Merchants (directed by João Gonzalez) nominated for Best Animated Short Film. The film also won the Leitz Cine Discovery Prize at Cannes Critics’ Week and an Annie Award.^[7]

(in alphabetical order)^[8]

• Ala Nunu
• António Selas
• Bruno Caetano
• Cristina Pîrvu
• João Alves
• João Gonzalez
• Sophie Colfer
• Susana Miguel António
• Vier Nev

• 10 Years of COLA – Audiovisual Collective (10-year celebratory exhibition at Cinemateca Portuguesa for Monstra Animation Festival, showcasing stop-motion puppets, behind-the-scenes stills and trailers)^[9]
• “The Peculiar Crime of Oddball Mr. Jay” (Museu da Marioneta)^[10]

• Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film

• COLA Animation IMDB Page

Category:Animation Collective